Deterring Drug Use With Intensive Probation in New Jersey, 1989-1990 (ICPSR 9919)

These data were collected to measure the degree to which
subjective deterrence and rational choice are effective in reducing
drug-use recidivism rates. Baseline interviews were conducted with
participants upon entering a drug rehabilitation program in New
Jersey. Under the terms of this program, which was an alternative to
prison, any incident of drug use occurring during the rehabilitation
period would result in the participant's returning to
prison. Follow-up interviews were conduc... (more info)

These data were collected to measure the degree to which
subjective deterrence and rational choice are effective in reducing
drug-use recidivism rates. Baseline interviews were conducted with
participants upon entering a drug rehabilitation program in New
Jersey. Under the terms of this program, which was an alternative to
prison, any incident of drug use occurring during the rehabilitation
period would result in the participant's returning to
prison. Follow-up interviews were conducted when the participant
either had a drug/alcohol use relapse or successfully completed a year
in the program without a drug-use incident. Baseline interviews
included questions about criminal and drug-use history, as well as
initial reactions to the drug rehabilitation program. Follow-up
interviews probed for participants' feelings about the drug
rehabilitation program experience. Further questions concerned
participants' failure or success at staying away from drugs or
alcohol.

Access Notes

One or more data files in this study are set up in a non-standard format, such as card image format. Users
may need help converting these files before they can be used for analysis.

Universe:
Individuals in the Intensive Supervision Program in New
Jersey.

Data Types:
survey data

Data Collection Notes:

The codebook and user guide are provided by ICPSR as a
Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed
by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader
software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to
obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web
site.

Methodology

Study Purpose:
The Institute for Criminological Research
conducted this study with the aim of gauging the degree to which
subjective deterrence and rational choice affect drug-use
recidivism. A secondary goal was to explore the effect of other social
and psychological factors (e.g., those related to drug rehabilitation
counseling) upon drug-use recidivism. The Intensive Supervision
Program (ISP) in New Jersey was chosen because participants were aware
that new drug-use incidents would most likely result in a return to
prison. The main hypotheses of this study maintained that drug use in
ISP was an inverse function of both the degree to which participants
preferred ISP to prison and of the participants' belief that drug use
would result in a return to prison.

Study Design:
The Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) was chosen
for this study because participants in ISP were generally aware that
new drug-use incidents would result in punishment, possibly including
a return to prison. All participants who entered the program between
January 1, 1989, and April 30, 1990, were potential
interviewees. Interviews were conducted a few weeks after the
individual's arrival in the program. The aim was to interview
participants once they had begun to settle into the program, but
before any drug-use recidivism had occurred. Follow-up interviews were
conducted when the participant either relapsed or successfully
completed a year drug-free.

Sample:
All individuals who entered the Intensive Supervision
Program in New Jersey between January 1, 1989, and April 30, 1990,
were interviewed.

Data Source:

personal interviews

Description of Variables:
Interviews covered participants' feelings about the
Intensive Supervision Program, risk of and reasons for drug-use
recidivism, and history of alcohol and drug use.

Response Rates:
Successful baseline interviews were completed
with 516, or 94.5 percent, of the 546 felons. Follow-up interviews
were conducted and completed with 128 out of 158, or 81 percent, of
participants who tested positive for drugs and 38 out of 76, or 50
percent, of those who screened positive for alcohol. Of the program
participants who had no positive urine screens for at least a year,
follow-up interviews were conducted and completed with 84 out of 107,
or 78.5 percent.

Presence of Common Scales:
Several Likert-type scales were used.

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Performed consistency checks.

Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:1993-10-02

Version History:

2002-06-27 The user guide and codebook were converted from
ASCII to PDF and combined into one file.